I Can Dance If I Want To

I'm Albert, and I'm the new music editor of OC Weekly. I'm pretty tickled to be here - I'm coming from the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, which means I'm sadly giving up some radical shows like this weekend's Festival in the Desert. (Pat Benatar and Boz Scaggs on the same stage on the same day? Dreams really do come true.) So if you ever need any music editor-y type things, feel free to e-mail me at aching@ocweekly.com.

But what I really want to do is dance, dance, dance.

Over in the Valley of the Sun, my friends and I were huge enthusiasts of the area's various dance nights. The cool ones, mind you, not the kind filled with d-bags trying to pick up on trashy looking chicks grinding on each other to get attention while similarly sexually problematic tunes like "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" fill the room. No, the kinds where you can hear artists like Chromeo, Justice and The Knife with the occasional Smiths or Cure track thrown in for good measure. It's where we popularized revolutionary dance moves like "the jump rope," "slippery shoes" and "the Simon Belmont." It's exactly as awesome as it sounds.

Naturally, one of the things that excites me the most about being here is exploring uncharted dance nights. One such event, which is surely old hat to many of you but new and shiny to me, is Busywork, happening tonight (and every Wednesday) at Detroit Bar.

On one hand, Wednesday seems like an odd choice for a dance night. I can get down with Thursday being the new Friday, but if Wednesday is the new Thursday, that just sounds like I should be at home watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "30 Rock." But it's also inching closer to having a cool dance night seven days a week, which to our forefathers seemed like just a beautiful dream. I actually checked it out last week when I was here looking for a place, but didn't stay too long as my nuanced moves are slightly less charming when it's a solo dance party.

Tonight they've got a guest set from Downey-based DJ Score, and next week play host to Jaguar Love, a Matador Records trio formed from the remains of The Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves. Normally there's no cover, but special guests will cost a few bucks (it's $5 next Wednesday for Jaguar Love).